'Judging Amy' to honor Crenna with heartfelt, on-air eulogy

The Star Telegram - Apr. 14, 2003

By Miki Turner
Star-Telegram Pop Culture Critic

The CBS drama Judging Amy will pay homage to one of its fallen stars Tuesday night.

In the episode "Requiem," Maxine (Tyne Daly) reveals to her daughter Amy (Amy Brenneman) that Maxine's fiance, Jared (Richard Crenna), is on his way home from China so that they can marry over the weekend. The sometimes cantankerous and strong-willed Maxine is quite the blushing bride as she prepares for the wedding that is not to be.

Crenna, 76, died on Jan. 17 of pancreatic cancer, and the show will have Jared suffer a fatal heart attack in China. Maxine hears of Jared's death from his son Charles (William Ragsdale) and experiences a spectrum of emotions from guilt to denial to anger.

Because Amy is away on a camping trip and out of cellphone range, Maxine, who doesn't want anyone to bother Amy anyway, must initially deal with her grief alone. This plot development serves the story well. Viewers get to see Daly at her best as she struggles to deal with Jared's death -- retrieving his corpse from China and settling his estate with Charles and all the bickering family members.

Once Amy returns, her mother's steely reserve and eventual reconciliation with Jared's death make for a very compelling episode of this often underrated series. In one of the more poignant scenes, Maxine gathers her family at a restaurant and requests that they share their memories of Jared.

"I loved the look in your eyes when he was around," says Amy. "I loved the way he made you laugh, and I'm sad because I don't know if I'll ever hear that laugh again." Those words help unlock Maxine's heart, enabling her to deliver her own heartfelt eulogy for the man she loved.

"I've been trying to figure out how to go on without him and I've decided I won't," she says. "I've decided to go on with him by becoming the person he believed I could become."

That's a five-hanky moment.


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